Perilous Shield (Lost Stars Series #2)

by Jack Campbell

Overview

Following a successful coup against the tyrannical Syndicate, the leaders of the rebel Midway Star System work to forge a government free enough to please its citizens yet strong enough to secure power. But in a world where former rulers have become new foes, an alien threat to humanity may turn old adversaries into uncertain allies.
 
President Gwen Iceni believes Midway is their only defense against the enigmas. Syndicate training taught her self-preservation in a crisis, yet she’s determined to fight for the star system’s fate…even if it means joining forces with another former Syndicate CEO—and an officer of the hated Alliance.
 
Despite General Artur Drakon’s misgivings, he partnered with Iceni to overthrow Syndic forces. Now, with an enigma fleet menacing their hard-earned independence, he can ill afford to trust her—or lose her support. But in the back of his mind, there are three words that describe someone who confides in a Syndicate CEO: Stupid. Betrayed. Dead.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425263716
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/30/2014
Series:	Lost Stars Series , #2
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	850,310
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 4.10(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

“Jack Campbell” is the pen name of John G. Hemry, a retired naval officer who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis before serving with the surface fleet and in a variety of other assignments. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Fleet series as well as the Stark’s War series and the Paul Sinclair series. His short fiction appears frequently in Analog magazine. The Lost Stars series includes Tarnished Knight and Imperfect Sword.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Lost Stars: Perilous Shield"
by .
Copyright © 2014 Jack Campbell.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight

“A fascinating and vividly rendered character study, fully and expertly contextualized.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A true page-turner as Jack Campbell takes you from one cliff-hanger to the next before you’ve had time to readjust to the newest twist.”—My Bookish Ways

“Tarnished Knight is a winner, with the right mixture of action-based military science fiction and political space opera.”—The Guilded Earlobe

“As can be expected in a Jack Campbell novel, the military battle sequences are very well done, with the land-based action adding a new dimension…Fans of The Lost Fleet series will…enjoy this book.”—SFcrowsnest

“[An] imaginative science fiction novel…A chilling depiction of a society where one is always being spied upon.”—Night Owl Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Lost Stars series

“There is one thing Jack Campbell really does very well indeed [and] it is writing space battles. They are fabulous, and there are enough here to give you a real taste of what it would be like to be up there and shot at.”—SFcrowsnest

“Campbell maintains the military, political, and even sexual tension with sure-handed proficiency…[He] focuses on the human element: two strong, well-developed characters locked in mutual dependence, fumbling their way toward a different and hopefully brighter future. What emerges is a fascinating and vividly rendered character study, fully and expertly contextualized.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Brilliant…Jack Campbell runs a strong saga shown from the viewpoints of the Syndicate at a time when the vicious totalitarian military regime teeters on the brink of total collapse.”—Genre Go Round Reviews

From the Publisher

2013-10-01
Second of the spinoff series (The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight, 2012) featuring the struggle of two former CEOs, Gen. Artur Drakon and President Gwen Iceni, to bring the newly independent crossroads Midway system out from under the shadow of the brutal Syndicate. It won't be easy, though. As this one opens, a powerful Syndicate flotilla threatens Midway, and although Drakon's ground forces are strong and well-organized, neither they nor Iceni's pitiful handful of warships is capable of defeating it. Worse, a huge fleet of alien enigmas shows up, against which Midway is helpless. Fortunately, right behind the enigmas comes legendary Alliance Admiral "Black Jack" Geary--series regulars will rejoice--with a supercolossal battleship captured from the alien Kicks in tow and accompanied by friendly alien Dancers. Black Jack, despite his war-weary crews and battered ships, is more than capable of kicking both enigma and Syndicate butt; however, after the long and bloody Syndicate-Alliance war, trusting the Alliance goes against the grain. But Drakon and Iceni's problems run much deeper. As former CEOs, they do not and cannot afford to trust one another too much. Neither has much of an idea of what true democracy entails. Their chief subordinates, Drakon's Malin and Morgan--they loathe one another--and Iceni's eerie bodyguard, Togo, may or may not decide to act independently. And somebody, perhaps several somebodies, is plotting to assassinate Drakon and Iceni in such a way as to make it seem as if the other party were responsible. Again, Campbell expertly cranks up the military, political and sexual tension, although the intensity wanes when the focus drifts away from the main characters. The author is dragging things out a bit but not to the point where readers will begin to peel away.

Kirkus Reviews